The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-06
MRS. poTTER's FIRST NIGHT.
An Interesting Review of it By One
Who is Posted.

Who is Posted.
New YORK, Nov. BIT was quite week
for Americans Mrs. Potter made her
debut at the Fifth Avenue Theatre profess
sionally i'll New York, and a new AmerI-
can play by Belasco and De Mile wasY
brought out at the Lyceum Theatre. 1t is
called The Wife, and it is a powerful
drama, admirably acted and mounted with
remarkable skill and magnitcence. Tue
Lyceum has taken its place since the season
began as second only TO Days as a stock
theatre. An amazing amount of labor and
money have been expended on all the pro
ducdons thus far, and the same clever brain
that built up the success of the Madison
Square Theatre is repeating the triumph at
rival house.
Mrs. Potuer's opening dwarfed all other
theatrical attractions, and even took the
first anticipatory blush of novelty from the
Irving BOOM Mrs. Potter is now the pet
of the public, the plaything of the news
papers and the object Of keen and bitter
envy.
The most noted audience that ever assem-
Died in a New York theatre greeted the
American actress. Everybody was there
from legal lights like Roscoe Conkling and
Joseph Choate to the milliopaires, AstorS,
Rockefellers and GilSeys. All the leaders Of
society, from Mrs Belmont and Mrs. Paran
Stevens down to the $, ciety men who lead
Cotillions and lend sombreness and gloom to
the various hunt clubs in the ueighborhood,
were on hand. The clubs were literally de
serted. while their crack members did hom-
age at Mrs. Potter's shrine Most of the
ladies were in evening dress, and the effect
| Of the low dresses through the body OF the
house was enhvening and brilliant.
| Mrs. Potter's play was strange and un-
earthly adaptation from the French, which
! consisted very largely of Mr. Kyrle Bellew,
| the long haired and etfemlnate actor, and a
| Miss Monk, who had q baritone voice, n
cavernous mouth and an air of settled re
| morse She spent the whole evening faint
| ing away, moaning, mutteflng curses on
the head of everybody who CHANGED to show
| up, and making an exceedingly unpleasant
| person of herself throughout Mr.. Bellew
| came in in the first act and fell upon sofa
near the footlights, apparently i'll an agony
| of pain and anguish. He wore a pair of
| natty check trousers and a voluminous
| shirt, the left side of which was bespattered
| by an enormous daub of red paint. This
was intended to represent blood, and there
was so much of it Immediately over Mr..
! Bellows heart that it seemed as though
that actor must have bled for week. 1t
was decidedly repulsive spectacle. A sur
geon came III, and yankng Mr.. Bellows
| shirt open at the bosom 10 a really alarming
extent, displayed a dashing bit of criss-cross
work in court plaster over the actors heart,
said the wound amounted to nothing, gave
tine Young man, vino was total stranger to
him. 1,500f and withdrew. This little cpl
sode started Mr.. Bellew on his prosperous
career, and he took up the study of sculp-
tura. Eventually he becomes famous and
marries Mrs. Potter. He plays the charac-
ter of an effeminate sculptor in purely
feminine way He cries when the woman
whom he loves goes OFF and marries another
man, and he clasps mis- hands across his
breast in a feminine way when his emotions
| are too much for him. eMrs. Potter also
weeps copiously all through the piece, and
the only really manly parsonage on the stage
Is the mother. She is a mailer. The audi
ence laughed at her Monday night, but that
did not seem to discourage her in the least
There were numerous deaths in the play,
and it was throughout silly and improbable
Nobody knows exactly why Mrs Potter
chose this for her opening performance in
New York.
The personal efforts of the famous Ameri-
can society women were literally rewarded
by applause She is by no means a great
actress, but she does not offend, and there
is no doubt that she will one day win a
prominent place on the stage by reason of
her art alone. She has beauty, intelligence
and grace Her face is far more attractive
than that of Mrs. Langtry, though she has
not the robust and superb figure of the
English woman. The Langtry is on the
wane professionally, and Mrs. PotterS sue
cess is the death knell TO her hopes. The
crown has been wrested from her.
BLAKELY HALL.